Arenysuchus

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Arenysuchus
Temporal range: Maastrichtian, 67.6–66  Ma
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Arenysuchus.jpg
Skull (ELI-1) and diagram
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Clade: Crocodylomorpha
Clade: Crocodyliformes
Clade: Eusuchia
Clade: Allodaposuchidae
Genus: Arenysuchus
Puértolas, Canudo & Cruzado-Caballero, 2011
Type species
Arenysuchus gascabadiolorum
Puértolas, Canudo & Cruzado-Caballero, 2011

Arenysuchus (meaning "Arén crocodile") is an extinct monospecific genus of allodaposuchid eusuchian crocodylomorph from Late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian stage) deposits of north Spain. It is known from the holotype MPZ  ELI-1, a partial skull from Elías site, and from the referred material MPZ2010/948, MPZ2010/949, MPZ2010/950 and MPZ2010/951, four teeth from Blasi 2 site. It was found by the researchers José Manuel Gasca and Ainara Badiola from the Tremp Formation, in Arén of Huesca, Spain. It was first named by Eduardo Puértolas, José I. Canudo and Penélope Cruzado-Caballero in 2011 and the type species is Arenysuchus gascabadiolorum.

Etymology

Arenysuchus was named and described in 2011 by Eduardo Puértolas and his colleagues for a partial skull and teeth. For the generic name, Areny is named after Arén, spelt as Areny in the Catalan language, the locality where the skull was found, and souchus, the Greek word for crocodile, leading to Latin, suchus. The specific epithet of "gascabadiolorum" is dedicated to the researchers José Manuel Gasca and Ainara Badiola, who discovered the holotype. [1]

Description

Holotype skull ELI-1 in two other views Arenysuchus gascabadiolorum.png
Holotype skull ELI-1 in two other views

Arenysuchus is known a partial skull and four teeth. One feature linking it to early crocodilians is the contact of the frontal bones with the margin of the supratemporal fenestrae, two holes in the top of the skull. The frontal bone is also unusual in that its front end is extremely long. A sharp projection of the frontal divides the nasal bones, making up most of the midline length of the snout. Usually, the nasal bones would occupy the midline and the frontal would be restricted near the eye sockets. Near the frontal, the lacrimal bones are unusually wide in comparison to their length. Below the supratemporal fenestrae are the Infratemporal fenestra, long openings along the side of the skull behind the eyes. The infratemporal bar (a projection of the jugal bone below the infratemporal fenestra) is very thin and vertically expanded. In most other crocodilians, it is thicker and laterally, not vertically, expanded. The edges of the orbits, or eye sockets, are raised. The orbit edges of more advanced crocodyloids like modern crocodiles are also raised, but those of the closest relatives of Arenysuchus are not. Another feature of Arenysuchus that distinguishes it from other basal crocodyloids is its small palatine process, a bony plate of the maxilla that forms the front portion of the palate. The palatine process of basal crocodyloids usually extends to the suborbital fenestrae, a pair of holes on the underside of the skull beneath the orbits. In Arenysuchus, the process is much shorter. Arenysuchus also has a pit between the seventh and eighth maxillary teeth that is otherwise only seen in "Crocodylus" affinis . This pit would hold a dentary tooth if the lower jaw were present. All other teeth of the lower jaw are set inward from those of the upper jaw, so they are covered by the upper teeth when the jaws are closed. [1]

Distinguishing anatomical features

Arenysuchus can be distinguished by the following features: an infratemporal bar that is tabular and vertically oriented, with little dorsoventral thickness and an extreme lateromedial compression; the dorsal portion of the anterior process of the frontal bone has a very elongated and lanceolate morphology; the anterior process of the frontal projects strongly beyond the main body of the frontal and extends between the nasals, ending in a sharp point beyond the anterior margin of the orbits and the prefrontal bone, at the height of the anterior end of the lacrimal bone. [1]

Phylogeny

Cladogram with skull diagrams Crocodyloidea.jpg
Cladogram with skull diagrams

In Puértolas, Canudo & Cruzado-Caballero's original 2011 phylogenetic analysis, Arenysuchus was found to be one of the most basal members of Crocodyloidea, the superfamily of crocodilians that includes crocodiles and their extinct relatives, which can be shown in the cladogram below: [1]

Crocodylia

Alternatively, subsequent phylogenetic studies have found Arenysuchus to be the sister taxon of Allodaposuchus and a member of Allodaposuchidae, as shown in the cladogram below: [2]

Allodaposuchidae

Paleobiology

Arenysuchus was part of an initial evolutionary radiation of crocodylians in the Northern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous. During the late Maastrichtian, Europe was an island archipelago surrounded by shallow seas. In this archipelago, crocodilians made up the majority of the crocodylomorph fauna. In the southern hemisphere, however, crocodilians were not yet common, with other crocodylomorphs like metasuchians comprising the dominant fauna. Crocodilians were entirely absent from Europe before this time. Dinosaurs were abundant, with a diversity of sauropods, theropods, and ornithopods. With the formation of the archipelago, a faunal turnover took place in the late Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs became much rarer, primarily represented by hadrosaurs. Crocodylians radiated to become a much larger component of the island ecosystems. [1]

Paleoecology

Excavation site Arenysuchus site.png
Excavation site

The Elias site, located west of Arén, is on the west end of the Tremp Syncline. Geographically, the site is located in Unit 2 of the Tremp Formation, and equivalent of the Conques Formation. In the same section of the Tremp Formation, but lower down, are the Blasi sites 1–3. The dinosaurs Arenysaurus and Blasisaurus are both from Blasi 1–3. The Tremp Formation is made up of 900 m (3,000 ft) of reddish rock in the South Pyrenean central Unit. Lower in the formation is a mix of platform marine deposits, that are late Campanian to Maastrichtian in age. Blasi 1 is located in the upper Arén Formation, with Blasi 3 extending into the upper Tremp Formation. [1]

The Tremp Formation dates to the late Cretaceous. It has been dated by means of planktonic foraminifers and magnetostratigraphy. The formation includes the planktonic Abathomphalus mayaroensis Biozone, which was dated in 2011 from 68.4 to 65.5 Ma. This gives the formation a late Campanian to early Danian age. The bottom of the Elias site is about 67 million years old, so the site dates from 67.6 to 65.5 Ma. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Allodaposuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Allodaposuchus is an extinct genus of crocodyliforms that lived in what is now southern Europe during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous. Although generally classified as a non-crocodylian eusuchian crocodylomorph, it is sometimes placed as one of the earliest true crocodylians. Allodaposuchus is one of the most common Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs from Europe, with fossils known from Romania, Spain, and France.

<i>Trilophosuchus</i> Genus of crocodiles

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<i>Harpacochampsa</i> Extinct genus of crocodilian

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<i>Aigialosuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Asiatosuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Acynodon</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Eothoracosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Eothoracosaurus is an extinct monospecific genus of eusuchian crocodylomorphs found in Eastern United States which existed during the Late Cretaceous period. Eothoracosaurus is considered to belong to an informally named clade called the "thoracosaurs", named after the closely related Thoracosaurus. Thoracosaurs in general were traditionally thought to be related to the modern false gharial, largely because the nasal bones contact the premaxillae, but phylogenetic work starting in the 1990s instead supported affinities within gavialoid exclusive of such forms. Even more recent phylogenetic studies suggest that thoracosaurs might instead be non-crocodilian eusuchians.

<i>Arenysaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Arenysaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, being one of the last non-avian dinosaurs and it went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. It is known from a partial skull and skeleton found in the late Maastrichtian-age Tremp Formation of the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain. The type species is A. ardevoli, described in 2009 by Pereda-Suberbiola et al., a group of researchers from Spain. The genus name refers to Arén, where it was found, and the specific epithet honours geologist Lluís Ardèvol.

<i>Blasisaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Blasisaurus is a genus of lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It is known from a partial skull and skeleton found in late Maastrichtian-age rocks of Spain. The type species is Blasisaurus canudoi, described in 2010 by Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola and José Ignacio Ruiz-Omeñaca, a group of researchers from Spain.

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<i>Agaresuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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<i>Kalthifrons</i> Extinct genus of crocodylian

Kalthifrons is an extinct monospecific genus of mekosuchine crocodylian known from the Pliocene Tirari Formation of Australia. More specifically, Kalthifrons was recovered from the Mampuwordu Sand Member, which underlies the younger sediments of the Pompapillina Member. This is significant, as the latter preserves some of the earliest records of the genus Crocodylus in Australia, which would eventually go on to replace mekosuchines. It is currently unclear whether or not the Tirari Crocodylus directly outcompeted Kalthifrons or simply moved into the region after the niche was left empty by the extinction of the local mekosuchines. Should the later be the case, then Kalthifrons may have simply been the victim of global cooling and aridification. A point in favour of the competition hypothesis is that both Kalthifrons and the Tirari Crocodylus have broadly similar skull forms, with both being interpreted as generalist semi-aquatic predators much like many of today's crocodiles. Though far from large, Kalthifrons was nonetheless bigger than many other mekosuchines such as Trilophosuchus and Mekosuchus. The genus is monotypic, meaning it contains only a single species, Kalthifrons aurivellensis.

<i>Kosmodraco</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

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Titanochampsa is a genus of large mesoeucrocodylian from the Maastrichtian Marilia Formation of Brazil. Although only known from a single skull roof, the material shows that Titanochampsa was not a member of Notosuchia, which were previously believed to have been the only crocodyliforms present in the strata of the Bauru Group. Body size estimates vary greatly and range between 2.98–5.88 m due to the incomplete nature of the holotype fossil. The overall anatomy of the skull roof, alongside its size and possible affinities with Neosuchians, may suggest that it was a semi-aquatic ambush hunter similar to modern crocodilians.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Puértolas, E.; Canudo, J.I.; Cruzado-Caballero, P. (2011). Farke, Andrew A. (ed.). "A New Crocodylian from the Late Maastrichtian of Spain: Implications for the Initial Radiation of Crocodyloids". PLoS ONE . 6 (6): e20011. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...620011P. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020011 . PMC   3110596 . PMID   21687705.
  2. Blanco, Alejandro (2021-06-09). "Importance of the postcranial skeleton in eusuchian phylogeny: Reassessing the systematics of allodaposuchid crocodylians". PLOS ONE . 16 (6): e0251900. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1651900B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251900 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   8189472 . PMID   34106925.